Stuart Titus deserved better than this

Those of us who value an award-winning, crusading newspaper in our small town are shocked and appalled to learn that the Humboldt County Fair Association Board has retaliated against the newspaper's editor and her policy of reporting the news in an unbiased, factual way by not renewing the contract of her husband, Stuart Titus, as manager of the Fair.

Although he is a silent partner in The Ferndale Enterprise and has no control over its contents (everyone will attest that Caroline Titus is her own boss when it comes to the newspaper), one of the county fair board members advised Stuart last year that he might lose his job if he failed to keep The Enterprise from printing news that was unfavorable to individuals on the board.

This statement caused such furor in Ferndale that many citizens attended the next board meeting. Members of the community called for the person who issued this threat to resign. She did not.

It is an embarrassment to all of us to have decisions of this importance made by people who use petty grievances to overcome what should be an honest, fact-based assessment. Otherwise, there is no way that Stuart Titus' contract would not have been renewed. He has been an excellent fair director for 22 years, working tirelessly against all odds to retain horse racing for Humboldt County, and keeping the fair going in a tight economy after state funds were withdrawn.

Although he could not prevent individual members of his board from doing or saying things that were newsworthy, Stuart Titus more than satisfied all requirements of a highly professional general manager. In addition he took a voluntary pay cut of $10,000 last year. He and Caroline, along with Chamber of Commerce president Karen Pingitore, were instrumental in creating Friends of the Humboldt County Fair, which raised approximately $45,000 for the last fair.

It is time to change the composition of the fair board so that people who are responsible for making decisions about the fair are more concerned with what is good for the county, and less with their personal vanity.